A Sense of Accomplishment (SOA) in employees arises from understanding the value and impact of their work, leading to increased motivation, engagement, and contribution to the company’s success.
Primary Implication
Employees, managers, and even owners who don’t feel a sense of accomplishment from their work are at risk of experiencing a decline in their contributions. The longer it goes unchecked, the more likely their inability to feel a sense of accomplishment from their work, the more likely they are to rob those they work with from their sense of accomplishment.
Making money comes down to having people who care about your customers, each other, and your business. Knowing what gives each person in your employ a sense of accomplishment is the best way to recognize and build on what moves them to give more of their discretionary effort to the business.
Overview
An employee’s Sense of Accomplishment (SOA) in the work they perform means they believe their work matters to the customer and contributes to the success of their employer. When they go home and talk about what they accomplished that day, you have engaged employees who believe in what they do.
The SOA a person experiences is more than a sense of achievement that comes from reaching a goal they have been working to achieve. A sense of accomplishment means that employees are naturally motivated to maintain what they do well and improve their work, building on the SOA they feel from their workplace contributions.
The best way to help employees develop a sense of accomplishment from their work is to help them connect the duties they have and tasks they perform to the customer, their coworkers, and the business’s success. For example, employees who see how they helped sales increase or saved the company money and time are likely to have a greater SOA than those who don’t see how their work they get paid for matters.
Other sources of unique SOA include employees identifying and then solving business problems and providing innovative ideas to increase sales and reduce costs. Recommend procedures and process improvements that make the business more efficient. Catching people going above and beyond and helping them see how their effort matters is the best way to help people cultivate and maintain a strong SOA in their work.
It is crucial to appreciate an employee’s accomplishments during your coaching conversations and contribution evaluations since you last spoke with them. Your goal is to identify what they get a sense of accomplishment from so you can help them experience more.
You have a problem when an employee does not express a sense of accomplishment in their job. They either need help recognizing what they are accomplishing or don’t have SOA because they aren’t doing anything worth talking to others about. When it’s the latter, you put them on a personal development plan if they are solid contributors to help them recognize they are valued. Or you begin progressive discipline with them because they aren’t earning the wages you are paying them. Progressive discipline is a great way to help employees see how they contribute to business results, or it is best to help them work their way out of the business.